


Drifted Away

by fricklefracklestargirl



Category: Free!
Genre: And angst, Fluff and Angst, M/M, a few years later, and it turned into fluff somehow, and yeah, slight angst, this was supposed to be what i thought would MAYBE happen to sousuke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-02
Updated: 2014-10-02
Packaged: 2018-02-19 15:29:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2393525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fricklefracklestargirl/pseuds/fricklefracklestargirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You don’t need me by your side, Rin."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drifted Away

**Author's Note:**

> I WROTE A THING. I HAVEN'T WRITTEN FANFICTION OR ANYTHING (except a little bit of poetry) IN LIKE A MONTH OR TWO NOW. I THINK I MAY CRY. I HAD TO FORCE MYSELF TO WRITE THIS AND I HOPED IT TURNED OUT OKAY. KAY BYE. SORRY I HAD TO FREAK OUT A LITTLE BIT.

Sousuke swung a bag over his good shoulder and sighed when a hand stopped him grasping at his suitcase. He turned to his sharp-toothed best friend, smiling fondly as the young man grabbed his suitcase and mumbled, “Like I’d really just not help you.”

“I never expected you _not_ to help me,” Sousuke chuckled, but let the man carry his suitcase down the stairs of Rin’s apartment building.

He hadn’t planned to stop and visit Rin when he did; he had actually planned to visit him a month later. However, he was already headed towards New Zealand and he missed Rin, so he decided to stop in Australia while he had the chance. Needless to say, Rin was extremely pleased when Sousuke showed up at his doorstep unannounced. Sousuke had been worried he would catch Rin at a bad time, considering all his extensive training.

Luckily, Rin had been pleasantly surprised when Sousuke showed up. Rin had immediately cleared out his extra bedroom and then spent the whole night talking with Sousuke until they both decided that it was time to sleep. They ignored the subject that Sousuke knew Rin was buzzing to breach, but didn’t out of consideration for his best friend. Of course, though, Rin couldn’t let the subject go ignored the entire time he was there. So, Sousuke wasn’t surprised when his best friend spoke up in their car ride to the airport.

“Are you--”

“Rin,” Sousuke interrupted, his voice dissolving into a low and tight tone, hoping that it covers up the pain that it takes to speak, “I know you want me to get back into swimming.”

“It isn’t just about swimming anymore,” Rin says quietly, his red eyes glued to the road intensely. “You are never in one place. I never know exactly where to find you. I barely ever see your face and we only call each other every two weeks; we used to do it everyday. What...what happened? Why are you always disappearing somewhere?”

Sousuke was silent, peering over at Rin and examining his expression. Rin was gripping the steering wheel as if his life depended on it and his whole body seemed stiff. Sousuke knew that this would only lead downhill.

“I haven’t just been disappearing. I suppose...I am taking time to see the world while I have the chance.”

“How are you even paying for all of this shit?” Rin questioned, his voice coming out shaky and vulnerable. Rin hated when his voice betrayed him.

“I started taking up photography. I sort of got into it in college, so I changed my major and took the subject more seriously. So as soon as I got out, I began traveling. It wasn’t long before I started making money off of the photos I took in different places.”

Rin took his eyes off the road for a millisecond, but Sousuke could see the surprise in them. When his eyes were back on the road in front of them, Rin roughly said, “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?! During college you stopped talking to me about so many things! You didn’t even think to tell me this while you were staying? How was I supposed to figure out why you’ve been moving from one place to another all of the time?! You never gave me a reason and I didn’t want to ask and be too invasive!”

“When have you ever cared about being too invasive with me, Rin?” Sousuke shot back, his pain and anger starting to crumble into his voice.

Suddenly, they are pulling over, and Sousuke has to grab onto the dashboard to stay upright. As soon as they come to a full stop, the car is switched off and Rin is turning to him abruptly. His eyes are sharp and his teeth are grinding together visibly. He starts to shout, “I started to care when you stopped talking to me like you used to! What happened to wanting to be by my side? Did you just forget that?”

By this time, Rin had tears pricking at his eyes. It felt like they had oddly switched places. He remembered when Rin had gone off to Australia the first time. He remembered getting excited every time Rin called or one of his letters came back in the mail. The less those things happened, the harder Sousuke felt like he had to work. He wanted to be beside Rin, so they could train together. So they could compete with one another. So they could swim together. So they could be together. After his shoulder gave out on him, though, the pain did all it could to defeat him. All he wanted to do was swim with Rin. All he wanted was to be by Rin’s side. He wanted to be able to be on the same level as Rin, swimming and otherwise.

After all the forced torture he put himself through to keep swimming, he wasn’t sure if he could come back from it. So after they graduated and Rin went off to Australia again, Sousuke went to university. He had caught an extreme interest in photography and went for it. Before he knew it, he was talking to Rin less and less.

The feeling of guilt never left him as he started off with his career in photography. He felt like he was betraying a promise with Rin.

It wasn’t like he forgot what he said to Rin, but he knew they would have to go their separate ways at some point. The thought pained him. He still tried, though. All throughout college he spent time healing his shoulder. He made sure not to overwork it. It had, admittedly, gotten much better than it had been. It was a dull pain now and the doctor’s even said that it would be fine for him to take up swimming again, he just needed to take it slowly and surely. He had joined the college swim team as soon as he was told. However, he wasn’t nearly as fast as he was before. He had some training to do before he could be in the shape he had been. Sousuke did his best to keep care of his shoulder while also training. It was stressful, but taking up photography helped in a strange way he didn’t know it could.

So, he took photography more seriously, leaving swimming to be more of the hobby, but still training for it just as hard. When he started traveling, he would go on boat trips, go hiking and scuba diving, and many more things. He took photos in any places he could. The more photos he took, the more relaxed he felt. The guilt was always there, though, he had just learned to ignore it. And the only way he knew how to do that was slowly pushing Rin away from his life. He stopped talking to him so much and, out of guilt, he continuously left out his switching of majors. He never told Rin about any of it. He only told him where he was when Rin called him, telling him all of the things he had done in different places. Rin would spend his time talking about training, competitions, and The Olympics. That only made him feel more guilty.

When he realized that not seeing Rin face to face was taking a toll on him, he stopped by early to see him. He had never been more happy to see his best friend. Despite all of the pushing, Rin would forever be a constant in his life.

“You don’t need me by your side, Rin,” Sousuke finally opted to say in a voice so quiet and soft. He continued on to say, “I think I was trying to prove to myself that I could be on the same level as you.”

“I want you by my side,” Rin whispered and Sousuke could tell that he had tears streaming down his face without even looking at his best friend. “I don’t care i-if we swim together competitively or for the hell of it! I don’t even care if we don’t swim together at all, I want you by my side!”

The car fell silent except for a few sniffles from Rin. Sousuke was staring at Rin, nearly breathless at Rin’s sudden confession. The silence continued until Rin pitifully said, “Say something.”

“I missed my flight.”

Rin turned his tear-filled eyes to Sousuke, ready to shoot an angry comment about how he is an idiot, but Sousuke surprised him by moving closer. It wasn’t long before Rin felt lips on his own while Sousuke’s thumb brushed against his cheek. When he pulled away, Sousuke smiled gently and Rin nearly wanted to hit Sousuke over the head with how embarrassed he just made him feel.

Sousuke chuckled and said, “Well all you had to do was ask nicely. You didn’t have to cry.”

“You--You shut up!” And this time Rin did hit Sousuke, lightly, while his face was burning. Sousuke proceeded to laugh a little louder, but Rin decided it was just best to shut him up himself, so he pulled the man down into another kiss, feeling a smile still on Sousuke’s lips.

**  
  
**

“Rin, you’d knew I had to travel eventually. I keep trying to tell you that you can come along. You need a break from training, even your coach said so,” Sousuke said from his spot on the couch while Rin stood in front of him. The redhead had been raging about Sousuke’s trip to New Zealand, a trip he had put off for about a year now to move in with Rin and get used to living with him again. Sousuke took the time while in Australia to keep up his photography, even taking a lot of underwater photos. Rin learned quickly that not only did Sousuke have a knack for getting the best shot, he was great at capturing the beauty of the scene too. He supposed that is why many people loved his work.

Their year together went a lot more smoothly than either of them thought it would. They had their spats, even a few fights, but it was worth it. They spent the time not only starting a relationship, but getting back to their strong friendship as well. It was easy to fall back into their friendship, despite all of the pushing away Sousuke tried to do. It hadn’t even been awkward starting a relationship together. It was just different.

Sousuke would come by practice every so often, getting to know Rin’s teammates and coach. They treated Rin good, kept him in tip top shape. Sousuke was always in the stands to see Rin train and compete. In return, Rin started venturing with Sousuke to different places so Sousuke could keep up his photography. Rin was amazed at the concentration and patience Sousuke took to get the most perfect and beautiful shot he could. They both indulged in the other’s passion, loving the way the other would shine. And of course, they always took some time to swim together.

The year had gone better than either of them could’ve hoped. Even their friends were excited for them (Nagisa nearly squealed with joy when Rin had said that him and Sousuke had moved into together). Sousuke had once asked Rin if maybe they were moving too fast, but Rin shrugged it off by saying, “Even if we weren’t together, you’d still be living here and we both know it.”

Sousuke couldn’t even argue with that.

Now here they were, Rin standing in front of him with a frown on his face and Sousuke lazily sitting down on the couch.

“Seriously, Rin, you’re making such a fuss over this. You should just take a break and join me. If you’re seriously worried about training, I’m sure you can still swim in New Zealand.”

Rin didn’t say anything, but Sousuke could tell he had won when Rin looked away from him with a frown still etched on his lips. “Damnit, I’ll come.”

“You say that as if you didn’t want to come in the first place.”

“Shut up!”

Sousuke merely grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> Can I also say that I didn't intend to make this shippy but it just happened??? I wanna do one with Rin/Sousuke/Ai because dear lord I need more of those three in my life. Darn my multishipping needs. (I am still freaking out a little inside because i fucking wrote. Damn I'm so happy and sad at the same time.)
> 
> Come to [my tumblr](http://theswootasticalstargirl.tumblr.com/) and be friends with me. Or not, it's cool.


End file.
